Is ACP Vasant Dhobleâ€™s transfer politically motivated?

MUMBAI: Vasant Dhoble's transfer from the Vakola division to the police control room is being seen as more a political decision than a response to the death on Friday of a vendor, fatally injured during an anti-hawking drive by the ACP. After all, on Thursday, a slum dweller in Dahisar died of heart attack during a demolition drive by the BMC under police watch, but the incident was ignored.

"In both incidents, it can be said that deaths were caused by shock. But while after the Vakola incident, politicians staged a protest against Dhoble, nothing happened after the Dahisar incident—not even an inquiry was instituted. The fact is that Dhoble had ruffled feathers and people with vested interests wanted him out," said a senior police officer. Several commercial establishments had objected to Dhoble's transfer to Vakola. The combination of these factors has led some in the police to believe that the swift decision to transfer Dhoble was political.

The Dahisar slum dweller, a 32-year old woman named Yashoda Yadav, died as she watched her neighbouring shanties being demolished by a civic body team. Overcoming protests and violence, the BMC razed nearly 1,500 illegal huts in Ganpat Patil Nagar near Kanderpada off New Link Road in one of its biggest anti-encroachment drives in the suburbs. A witness said that as Yadav watched her neighbours' huts being destroyed, she could not bear the thought of her own being in the bulldozer's path. After she collapsed on the spot, she was taken to hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

Former IPS officer Y P Singh said Dhoble's transfer was illegal. "By doing so, the home department has violated the Maharashtra government's service rules. Even his earlier transfer from the crime branch to the Vakola division was illegal and premature as per the state's service regulation act, which says an officer must complete a three-year tenure at a posting. In exceptional cases, a senior officer needs to cite valid reasons. I don't think procedure was followed in Dhoble's case."